A cool film for the family, the movie My Pet Dinosaur is now available on VOD. Nicely acted and directed the movie has a good sci-fi adventure story with a lot of imagination and mystery. The cinematography along with stirring and exhilarating music make the film exciting to watch. The adults should sit in with the very young as some of the film has a few surprises that you don’t see coming.
The movie opens with the military checking out a wooded area just outside of Brightwood where some odd looking slime was found by townsfolk. At the local high school they are getting out for the weekend and Jake Emery, Charles (Tom Rooney), Max (Sam Winspear-Schillings) and Dylan (Jack Mars) are not happy with the town being closed down due to the military investigation going on just outside of their village. The EPA has finally responded after two years of pressuring them to investigate all the strange sicknesses going around and the town meeting is happening this weekend.
In the meantime Jake has been dealing with the loss of his father and his grades are showing it. His mother Jennifer (Beth Champion) has taken control of the family that includes high schooler Mike (Harrison Saunders) who has been getting in trouble with the local law over his fondness for graffiti. The new kid in school, Abbie (Annabel Wolfe), has moved in across the street from Jake and they are quickly becoming friends.
One evening the boys want to go into the forest and congregate outside Jake’s house where Abbie decides to join them. The kids are all into aliens and they search around thinking they have found nothing. Abbie did find some gooey stuff and she brings it over to Jake the next morning. When his brother messes up his experiment and Jake accidentally mixes his milkshake with the goo, something strange starts to happen. Mush to his surprise, he finds a strange looking mini dinosaur in his room.
So beings an adventurous tale much like E.T. with the dinosaur growing larger each day. Director Matt Drummond gets the excitement started right away with the town hall meeting causing a lot of suspicion when the EPA and the Military come to speak. He introduces Colonel Roderick (Rowland Holmes) into the plot and it puts the boys on their guard, especially with their new dinosaur buddy they have to keep as a secret.
Even though the acting by most of the support characters is not up to par, I do like the main group that centers on Jake. Even though he’s a newcomer to films, Jordan Dulieu depicts the middle schooler with a good deal of realism. He has to deal with a mother who has her hands full being a full time provider for two boys that are going through a period of angst. He handles Jake well, making the film work as he deals with his new dinosaur roommate and a hostile Colonel who seems to be covering something up.
In support the boys Tom Rooney, Sam Winspear-Schillings, and Jack Mars make typical high school friends each with their own personality. Rooney plays Charles the smart one of the group and a sci-fi nut who thinks he’s solved the mystery in the woods. Schillings makes a good Max the kindest of the three buddies always being aware of what is ‘right’. Then there’s Mars as Dylan the wise cracking pal who tries to be funny all the time. The three boys coupled with Annabel Wolfe as Abbie make the perfect friends and they stick together no matter how crazy things get.
My Pet Dinosaur has not been rated, but it may have a rating when you download the film from VOD. With what I saw, it probably would have been rated TV-PG.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very cool film for early pre-teens and up, especially middle to high school. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Jordan Dulieu, Annabel Wolfe, Tom Rooney, Sam Winspear-Schillings, Jack Mars, Beth Champion, Harrison Saunders and Rowland Holmes
Directed and written by: Matt Drummond
Genre: Action, Adventure, Family
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains sci-fi action
Running Time: 1 hr. 38 min.
Opening Date: October 16, 2018 on VOD
Distributed by: Uncork’d Entertainment
Released in: VOD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
